You will need to sign on with your LLLID (La Leche League ID) before you can post. If you have never claimed your LLLID, create your LLLID now. To sign in, click the LLLID Sign On button in the upper right corner. Enter your LLLID Alias and click the button again.

Letting Down Reflex Broken?

my little boy is 16 weeks now and it feels like my letting down is taking SOOO long and by that time he's irritated and screaming and i'm all tense ... we were getting along so good and now this ... he's had his vaccinations on monday and now today he only had two feeds, were screaming and fighting the breast and ended up going to sleep without a feed ... please help!!!

Re: Letting Down Reflex Broken?

Just want you to know I totally know how you feel! And it seems the longer it takes for you to let down, the more tense it makes you and then it takes even longer. A nasty cycle! I'm going to be watching this thread to see if there is any good advice out there. I do know one thing, though. Sometimes you don't feel the letdown, but it has still happened.

Re: Letting Down Reflex Broken?

Aw, you're not broken

After a while some women just stop feeling the letdown but trust me it's still there. I myself only felt it the first few weeks but not since and my lo is 13months.

He could just be irritable from the vaccinations or teething and his gums are irritating him when he's sucking. Maybe try teething tablets. My LO started showing signs of teething when he was 2 months and the teething tablet helped most of the time.

You could also try taking a walk to calm both of you down and maybe nurse outside on your porch, for some reason my son really liked this at that age. Another thing you could try is turning the vacuum/hair dryer on and nursing him or maybe walking/wearing him in a sling?

The vacuum was our friend, for a while there it was the only wa I could get him to settle down to nurse and finally sleep. It was almost instant calming for him, don't know why but it worked

I know some of my suggestions might seem strange, lol, but we tried everything in the early days to keep LO happy, he was high maintenance. HTH!

Re: Letting Down Reflex Broken?

Don't think about it. That's my advice. When I think about let-down, I can't let-down because the stress inhibits the reflex. I had the same problem around 4-5 months and one night due to extreme exhaustion I didn't feel any let-downs and I ran to the LC in the morning. She put some warm towels on my breasts and within seconds I had a let-down. Then we started putting warm towels on my breasts before feeding but it only worked if I was also relaxed not thinking about it.